


A Fox and an Oracle

by Phurtershep



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-01-24 11:41:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21337654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phurtershep/pseuds/Phurtershep
Summary: Sorry about the delay everyone, I'd been busy with work and school (Even over Thanksgiving) and I'm happy to FINALLY have another bit out. Have I decided if this is fluff or not yet? Nope. Will I ever? Probably not. Oh well.
Relationships: Kitagawa Yusuke/Sakura Futaba
Comments: 2
Kudos: 58





	1. Chapter 1

"This feeling is new to me. I can't quite explain it, not with my own vocabulary. It's not that primal uncontrollable adolescent feeling I get from most women, it's… different. It feels fuzzy, and somewhat tickles." Yusuke wrote, pausing for a few moments to ponder.

"I know my vision of art is still cloudy, so I don't know why I assumed a journal would help. How do I even write one? Is a stream of my consciousness acceptable? Hmmm. Thoughts for another time I suppose." he continued. With a sigh, he closed the journal without even filling a page. “Another time, perhaps.” he thought to himself, pulling out his phone, He considered for a moment trying to talk to her to help him understand what he felt, but he silently put it away.

Yusuke was at a loss.

For once, he just had no idea what to say. What could he say? He'd never really put much into what people thought about him, but…

Something was different about this to him. Something was just fundamentally askew, like my world had shifted beneath his feet. His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out again. That warm feeling kicked in once again when he saw who the message was from.

"Hey Inari, I'm hungry. Wanna get a bite to eat?"

He was stricken for a reply, and typed only one letter as he tried to describe to himself how I felt. “I’m entirely out of my element…” he whispered quietly, “A fish in an osprey's claw, a crab in a pot, a… why are all of my analogies about food? I suppose I am hungry, but...”

He deleted that letter, and she quickly sent "Oh, if you're busy too i'll just get some delivery." Yusuke’s heart skipped a beat, panic began to well up in his stomach. 

"no that wont be necessary"

"Uh, Inari, I still need to eat."

"oh i just meant that i can bring something to you"

"Oh come on I know just as well as you that you have no money, I just don't wanna eat out alone yet, y'know?" she replied. He gave a long, relieved exhale. 

"where should we go then?"

"Oh, I didn't plan that far ahead. What sounds good to you?"

"oh erm, anything will do."

"You okay Inari? You're typing kinda funky."

"just ran, still shaking."

"Uh, shaking_ ? _ Like, _ shaking _ shaking? If you're not feeling well I won't force you out."

"Oh not, just running on an empty stomach."

"Uhh… okay. Anyways, we can go to that ramen shop that Ryuji suggested if you wanna. Haven’t had much to eat, and besides it’s about to rain so I doubt a lot of people are out.”

“huh, you really do plan well.”

“Yeah or no, Inari.”

“yes, I’ll make my way there.”

“Uh, well I was thinking that you came here and we went together.” that lovely young woman said, and he felt that _ feeling _take over once again. 

"alright, i'll be on my way."

“See ya soon then.” 

Yusuke slid his phone back into my pocket and brushed off his hands before walking out of the dorm to the subway station. It was an uneventful ride to meet Futaba outside Sojiro’s house, where she came out to meet him.

“Hey Inari, you’re staring.” Futaba said, sparking him out of his dizzy stupor.

“Oh, sorry, shall we get going then?”

“Yes, it’s up north correct?”

“Yep, I know the way.” she said with an air of finality, starting off toward the station.   
“I wonder how she could be so unsure of herself all the time despite being so… powerful? Assertive? Hmmm.” he pondered as he quickly caught up to her, and they entered the subway car.

“Hey, uh, thanks for coming with me.” Futaba said, huddling close to Yusuke. 

“You’re warm.” he said.

“O-oh, sorry.” she said. She looked down, then slide away somewhat. 

“Oh, I was fine with it, you didn’t need to move.” She blushed to this, and looked down. She played with the edge of her socks, and then with her bright orange hair. Yusuke started to instinctively reach out his hand before he stopped and set it down on the seat next to her. “If you’re cold, I-”

“It’s fine, I’m not cold.” Futaba said, not looking up to meet his gaze. He inched slightly closer to her.

"If I may be honest, I… erm… kind of enjoyed it." Yusuke whispered. Futaba made a small squeak, but didn't answer. He peered around, everyone else was indulged in idle conversions or engrossed in one of the many screens in their hands or along the wall. 

"I uh… um…" she started to sputter a little before going silent, her face growing more and more scarlet. She started to swing her legs a little, holding her hands to her knees. "A-Anyways, I've been meaning to ask you something." Yusuke inhaled deeply as a small panic fluttered in his stomach.

"What is it?"

"Er… nothing. It's fine. I'm guessing you're still hungry?"

"Well, yes."

"Alright…" she said, trailing off. Yusuke could tell she still had something on her mind, and considered pressing it further until their stop was announced. Futaba instantly jumped to attention and took his hand. "Come on Inari, let's go." she said, as if she'd already forgotten how she was speaking just seconds before. "I know the way from here." 

"Alright, lead the way." Yusuke said with a nod. It was a mostly quiet evening. Few people were out and about, and a storm was evidently brewing. Like Futaba had guessed, there wasn't even a line to get in, though it was still mostly full inside. Yusuke led her over to one of the few open tables, conveniently only two seats, and sat down. They both ordered, and Yusuke looked down at Futaba as she fidgeted with something in her pocket. She finally peered up from her distraction only to meet Yusuke’s gaze. Her face turning red again, she looked off sideways to the rest of the shop. "I didn't think it would be so uh… tense eating with you."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can-"

"No no no not in a bad way, just…" she paused, "Well, I just… how do I explain it? Uh, when we're in Mementos or a palace, I can sense everyone's condition as well as somewhat read their thoughts. Usually this is just like what they're about to do, or maybe the odd thought about what they're going to eat for dinner, but I've constantly been getting something I can't understand from you."

"What do you mean?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. I notice it the most when we're resting in a safe room though. It could just be…" she started to trail off again, and Yusuke smiled again.

"I think I have an idea."

"Ooooh! What is it?"

"Not telling."

"That's not fair Inari! It's probably just from you staring at Ann."

"No, not her."

"So it is a girl! Oooh i'm gonna-" Futaba began before she stopped for a moment to think. Then the pieces finally clicked in her head, and she started blushing furiously. "Wait, do you-"

"Do I what?" 

"Do y-you… um, uh-" she sputtered, as their ramen arrived. She fixed her glasses on her face, then started to slowly eat. Watching, Yusuke realized his own face was warm before he’d even started to eat. He smiled in a small amusement, then started to eat as well.

It was delicious.

But, to Yusuke, who he was spending it with made it that much better.

They finished eating in an awkward silence, neither really knowing where to go from there. “Had I been too upfront? Maybe I should have… Well, come to think of it, no real reason in worrying about it.” Yusuke thought to himself. They split ways after he took her back to the station. She didn't seem to want to speak or be huddled close to him. Hurt, but not enough to let it show, he walked through the station to his own line back. As he stepped into the train car, his phone buzzed once more.

"Hey. Uh… I wasn't really sure how to say anything in person, or what to do really, sorry about that." Futaba sent.

"it's fine."

"No, it wasn't. I should have said _ something _, or even like a real goodbye, especially if you actually do uh, like me." she said. “There it was,” He thought, “I suppose that must have been that feeling I've been having for these last few weeks. Love.”

Love.

“If there's one thing I've never learned, it's what to do with something like this.” Yusuke said aloud before replying with "don't worry about it Futaba." and slid his phone back into my pocket. “Hmmm… what to do about this…” Yusuke thought to himself. Upon arriving back at his dorm he gathered his supplies. He had a portrait to make.


	2. Chapter 2

A knock at the door drew Yusuke’s attention. It was mid afternoon, and the sun was soon going to set. He set down his paintbrush and walked over to the door. “Yes? Who is it?” he asked through the crack of the door. 

“Ish me!” Futaba said, evidently with something in her mouth. Yusuke chuckled, and opened the door. Futaba was carrying a large amount of food, and even put a paper bag in her mouth to be able to knock. Yusuke helped her inside, setting the food down on an end table. She put her hands on her hips and looked up at him.

“I knew you’d be hungry, so…”

“You know you didn’t have to do this Futaba. I don’t expect anyone to spend money on me.”

“That just makes doing it better, Inari.” Futaba said, puffing up with a giant smile on her face. “Besides, you’re always gonna need food.”

“That’s not what i’m worried about though, I’m more concerned as to where this money is coming from. I already owe Boss enough-”

“Nope.” Futaba said, interrupting him, “This is right from m.”

“I can assume you got it from less than scrupulous means?” 

“Cold, Inari, like your food will be if you don’t eat it.”

“Fine, you know my weakness.” Yusuke said, opening the bag. 

“They say the secret to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

“Shounsh painful,” Yusuke said through his food, “I think it’s through his thoughts.”

“Then I’m already in your heart aren’t I?” Futaba remarked with a smug smirk.

“You sheem a lot more confithent than yeshterthay.”

“I needed time to prepare, duh.”

“Was the food just an excuse to see me?” Yusuke said after swallowing. Futaba dramatically pretended to be offended.

“Not telling.”

“Well, do you have something you want to tell me?”

“Erm, maybe.” Futaba replied, her confident exterior quickly deteriorating. “Not yet though.”

“Interesting. Well when you’re ready to share the passions of your heart with me, let me know.”

“Hmph. Can’t you be at least a little flustered?”

“Who says I’m not?”

“Oho! So you’re trying to hide it!”

“I have nothing to hide.”

“Uhuh, and what were you painting?” 

“Something I care about, it’s not done yet though.”

“Ooooh, you perv. I bet it’s a naked girl.”

“Absolutely not!” Yusuke said in surprise. Futaba laughed, and walked over to it. As Yusuke said, it wasn’t done. The face was still blank, but the portraits hair was bright orange. She brought her hand to her face to cover her flushed face.

“Hmm. It’s coming along well.” she said, masking the mixture of excitement and nervousness in her voice.

“Thank you.” Yusuke said, followed by a moment of silence.

“Uhh… wanna go out and do something?” Futaba suggested, turning away from the painting.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, see a movie maybe? There’s that one rerun of this super cool old spy movie we could go see.”

“Hmm, why not? I need an excuse to get out more I suppose.” Yusuke said

“Alright, follow me then. It’s being shown at an old theater that just reopened near Leblanc.” Futaba said. She took Yusuke’s hand and led the duo out towards the station. When they got their seats, Futaba leaned in to Yusuke’s shoulder. She was warm, and he was happy. He wrapped his arm around her, and she smiled. The movie was enjoyable, but it was overshadowed by something much more important for both of them. 

They left the theater holding hands, and Futaba went home with a giant grin on her face. As he watched her run back towards Sojiro’s house, his phone vibrated in his pocket.

Akira: Meeting tomorrow, we have a new target in Mementos.

Makoto: Who is it?

Akira: A corrupt news manager, he’s helping to cover for Shido.

Ryuji: Alright then! One more old bastard to get rid of.

Futaba: One more old fart rejected.

Ryuji: There is no effin way you’re trying to start this again.

Makoto: If you two are going to have another sing off can you not bring all of us into it?

Yusuke: Alright, i’ll be coming.

Ryuji: Ah what the hell, everyone liked it last time! 

Yusuke put his phone away, and kept walking to the station. A smile never left his face as he returned to his dorm, then settled away to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hell yeah!" Ryuji yelled, slamming his pipe into the head of a shadow. It dissolved beneath the force of the impact, and the party shifting their gaze onward into the darkness of Mementos. 

“Careful, I sense something on this floor.” Futaba said, one tentacle of Necronomicon pointing at a wall. “It seems powerful, be on guard.”

“Alright.” Akira said, sliding his hand across his mask. It shifted slightly, glowing blue for a moment. “Should we wait for it to come to us or should we take the initiative?”

“No idea, I can’t get a good grasp on it. If anything, it might be better to just avoid fighting it, no point in risking your lives to beat it.”

“It’s not that reaper thing that came after us when Morgana and Ryuji were arguing and weren’t letting us move, right?” Ann asked, pulling out her gun.

“No, at least, I don’t think so.” Futaba said, “It’s just like REALLY strong. Like an optional quest boss strong!”

“Aren’t they usually kinda weak though?” Ryuji questioned, not turning from the wall.

“No like an endgame one!” Futaba yelled.   
  
“That doesn’t-” Ryuji began to say before a loud crack appeared in the wall. Everyone sprang back to attention drawing their weapons.  
  
“Get ready.” Akira said, as a dark mass of a shadow pierced through the wall. It fell through, taking pieces of the wall with it, and began to transform. At once, the party began to rain bullets and explosives on it, causing the molding figure to stumble as it transformed into it's true form. Jet black wings sprouted from its back, and it gave a mighty roar as it gained the form of a gigantic black dragon.

At once, everyone summoned their personas, and launched a volley of magical attacks at it. The shadow gave another fearsome roar before lunging for Akira. He effortlessly jumped upwards, landing on the shadow’s head. At once, he and his persona cut into the back of its head, before it quickly jerked back and flung him off. It whipped around to where it had flung him off, and quickly fired rocky bullets at him. Yusuke and Ryuji took this moment to attack, slashing and bashing it’s exposed wings. An explosive round fired into its head, causing it to stumble once again. 

“Now!” Haru yelled, her Persona opening the maw of its dress and unleashing a stream of bullets on the shadow dragon. It roared in pain as it was slowly reduced to little but black mush.

“Yeah! Good job Haru!” Ryuji yelled standing triumphantly over the destroyed shadow’s body as it slowly dissipated into the floor. 

“Don’t celebrate just yet.” Futaba said, still within her persona, “something is VERY wrong.”

“As in?” Akira asked, reloading his handgun.

“That wasn’t the only powerful shadow, there’s multiple here.” she answered, everyone quickly going on alert. “There aren’t any immediately on this floor, but there are several below us.

“Well, we already hit our target, so there’s no reason to stick around here any longer. We’re going up and out.” Akira ordered. The party came to the escalator upwards as a large crash shook the ground beneath them. 

“What the hell is going on?!” Ryuji yelled, helping Haru back to her feet. 

“No idea!” Futaba yelled, resummoning her Persona. “I can’t see anything!” 

“Something’s wrong with Mementos.” Morgana said, running up the escalator, “We need to get out of here,  _ now _ .” Nobody bothered to argue, and followed him up to the floor above. Another crash sent the thieves tumbling.

Yusuke put a reassuring hand on Futaba’s shoulder, and she blushed before batting his hand away. “I’ll curse you Inari.” 

“I wonder what it’ll be.” Yusuke said. Futaba rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.

“You’ll see.” Futaba said with a giant smirk. To the other side of Yusuke Haru made a snicker, badly hiding it behind her gloved hands. She leaned forward and whispered into Ryuji’s ear, and he chuckled as well.   
  
“Good to see you’re all happy.” Makoto said from the front, not turning to look back.

“Well, it helps that there doesn’t seem to be any shadows.” Akira said, peering through the window. “Be on guard though, don’t forget about those tremors earlier. Something  _ is _ amiss.”

“Don’t need to remind us, man.” Ryuji said, nervously putting a hand back on his weapon. 

“Better to still be on guard than to get caught by surprise.” Makoto said, still looking ahead into the darkness. 

“Uh, hey guys?” Ann asked, “is it just me or is it slowly getting darker?” everyone quickly looked out a window, and Makoto brought Morgana to a stop. The entire group quickly filed out, and Morgana reverted to his normal form.

“Don’t need to tell you, but be on guard.” Akira said. Futaba summoned her persona, and huddled low to the ground as she scanned the area.

“I’m sensing another big shadow like the last one, but… I can’t tell where it’s coming from.” she said, and everyone backed closer together. A slight buzzing emanated from the darkness, causing everyone to turn into the direction it came from. “That’s it guys- that’s the shadow that caused the tremors.” Out of the darkness red eyes glinted, slightly illuminating the form of an enormous insect face. 

“Thieves, you are unwelcome.” the shadow called from the darkness, “The people wish no longer for your wills.”

“And we’re here to fix that.” Akira yelled back, raising a hand to the edge of his mask.

“Fool.” it replied. It raised its head and its eyes began to glow brighter. It raised an insectoid hand holding a staff make of human spines, and from it multiple blasts of multicolored dark energy. Akira quickly swiped his hand over his mask, and the ghostly blue fire of Persona washed over his body. 

**“Arsene!”**

Akira’s persona appeared out of his body, taking the dark energy without even a stumble. The shadow halted for a moment, and Akira began to run towards it. Yusuke watched as it focused its multi-eyed gaze on Futaba. With a loud crack, the shadow fired a blast towards her, arcing it over Akira and Arsene’s reach. Yusuke quickly snapped to attention, ripping off his mask and using his persona to stop the blast. He growled as it made contact, hunching over.

“Shit!” Ryuji yelled, summoning his persona too, “Get ready!” The party glowed blue as they summoned their personas, and started to approach the shadow. Futaba left her persona and grabbed Yusuke’s hand. 

“Slow down Inari, you’re a lot more wounded than you think.”

“Nonsense,” He said, watching as Akira danced around the shadow, “I’m fine.”

“Nope, not gonna let you. C’mon just-” Futaba began as the shadow fired in their direction again. Akira used Arsene to scrape most of it out of the air, but was unable to stop it. Yusuke summoned his persona again, and blocked it from hitting Futaba. Despite its size, it caused him to buckle over. “Come on Inari! I told you!”

“Best outcome-” he said, struggling to his feet again. He could feel the effects of the spell still draining his strength. The rest of the thieves struggled to keep up fighting it, but the magical attacks it unleashed kept them all at bay. “You need to help them, I’ll be fine.”

“No, you won’t.” Futaba said, summoning her Persona. Using it, she grasped Yusuke with it and took him inside. “Stay in here with me, okay?”

“Yeah…” Yusuke said, slowly getting weaker. “Just help them, I’ll be fine.”

“No, I can’t take you closer to that, you’re injured.”

“I’m fine, it’s better than it looks.”

“Inari, you can’t fool me.” Futaba said, gently putting a hand on his face. “They’re doing fine.”

“And you can’t fool me, they need your help for something like that.”

“And they need you _ alive _ a lot more.”

“There’s no convincing you, is there?”

“Nah.” Futaba said, looking out towards the rest of the party. The situation hadn’t changed within the last few minutes. Both the shadow and the thieves were still in fine condition, and neither was letting up. Every so often, a thief would climb onto the shadow and strike what would appear to be a weak point, but the shadow shrugged it off and kept attacking. Akira and Arsene were rushing around, intercepting or reflecting blows aimed at the others. With a yell, the shadow swung the staff in its hand at him, crashing into the ground and cracking open the floor. It slid into the opening, and disappeared into the darkness below. Futaba tracked it again, and it faded quickly, with more tremors coinciding with rapid descents.

“Is it gone then?” Akira yelled to Futaba.

“Yeah!” she yelled back, descending to the ground near the rest of the party.

“Is Yusuke okay?” Ann asked. In response, he shakily left Necronomicon. Everyone gave a slight sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness…” Haru said. “Come on, let’s get out of here. We don’t want that thing to come back.” Everyone nodded in agreement, and Morgana transformed. Mementos was empty all the way to the entrance. Returning to the real world, everyone took a deep sigh of relief. Futaba instantly stood up and gave Yusuke a hug. He gave an exhausted smile, but didn't speak.

"So then," Makoto said, breaking the silence, "We need to figure out what changed to cause Mementos to shift like that."

"Yeah. Shido and Mementos… We have a lot on our plate.” Haru said. 

“Gonna be hard, but we have to do it. For everyone’s sake.” Ryuji said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

“You can be inspiring sometimes Ryuji.” Morgana said with a smug look.

“Oh shut up Morgana.” he said, crossing his arms.

“Well, not much more we can do tonight. I’m not doubting we’re all tired. Besides, the rest of you still have school tomorrow.” Akira said, standing up.

“Oh shit, you’re right.” Ryuji said, “We might’ve stuck around in Mementos a bit too long.”

“Not like it was our choice,” Ann said with a yawn, “We would’ve been just in and out if it wasn’t for that shadow.”

“Doesn’t matter. We need to make sure to not bring  _ any _ attention to ourselves, and being sleep deprived for no good reason is going to be one of them.” Makoto said.

“Fine, fine,” Ryuji said, picking up his bag, “Let’s get going then.”

He and Haru left first, followed by Ann and Makoto. Yusuke was still slumped over the table. Futaba walked over to him and gave him a hug. "I'll walk you home, come on."

"No, I'll be fine."

"Not a chance, Inari. Come on, get up." Futaba said, pulling at Yusuke's arm. He begrudgingly stood up.

"Careful you two, it is late now.." Akira said.

"We will, don't worry." Futaba said, leading Yusuke downstairs. Sojiro squinted at them as they left, but didn’t say anything. Futaba lead an almost stumbling yusuke by his arm, slowly taking him from Yongen-Jaya station to his dorm. She took the key from him and opened the door, and lead him inside. Yusuke immediately walked over and unceremoniously flopped onto his bed. He was fast asleep in moments. Futaba pushed his legs onto the bed, and sat down on it next to him. She didn’t say anything, but she softly brushed her fingers through his hair. For some reason she couldn’t yet explain, it made her feel safe. She smiled, then slid off his bed and out the door. She made sure to lock the door behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

As soon as his day at school was over, Yusuke immediately returned to his dorm and flopped back onto his bed with a groan. Of course, he was no longer physically exhausted, but he felt like his brain was being run through a salad spinner, not that he’d ever owned one. He wanted nothing more than to fall asleep again, but it was futile. With another groan he rolled over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling fan. It felt as though hours had passed, but in reality it was little more than 20 minutes. He watched it spin around and around, not able to bring himself to move. The painting he had been working on two days prior still sat untouched, he dared not attempt to paint in his current state, as much as he wanted to. He didn’t know if he was waiting on someone to initiate something with him, or if he just wanted to talk with _ someone _. Hmmm. Yusuke finally dragged himself to his feet, and then left his dorm. No point in waiting on someone else to start what he wanted. He would have brought a gift if he had any excess money, but himself would have to do. He exited the station at Yongen-Jaya, walking past Leblanc until Futaba and Ryuji ran out from inside. 

“Dude! We’ve been waiting on you!” Ryuji said. Yusuke turned around, stifling a yawn.

“Are… you okay Inari?” Futaba said. 

“Do I look that bad?” Yusuke asked, scratching his head. Ryuji sighed.

“Doesn’t matter, we’ve been waiting on you, and now you’re here.”

“Waiting on me for what?” Yusuke questioned, tilting his head.

“The meeting…? Over what we’re going to do?”

“Oh, I forgot.” 

“Well, whatever. You came anyways, even if you’re late.” Futaba said, grabbing his arm. He silently let himself be lead in and upstairs. Everyone was gathered around the table like usual. 

“Oh, you made it.” Akira said looking up at the trio as they entered.

“Yeah, we found him.” Ryuji said, walking back and taking a seat.

“What took you so long?” Ann asked, sitting up on the couch.

“He ‘forgot’ about it.” Futaba said smugly.

“Tired, had other things on my mind.” Yusuke said, sitting down in his usual seat.

“Well, whatever. Everyone’s here now,” Akira said. Everyone leaned in towards the table. “So, I don’t think I need to reestablish what happened in Mementos, but obviously we didn’t know why.”

“Mhm,” Morgana said, “and that’s why I looked deeper into it last night.” Everyone leaned forward a little more, intently listening to what he had to say. “That one shadow we found? It’s slowly absorbing more shadows into itself, that’s why Mementos was so empty.”

“How the hell does that even happen?” Ryuji said, scratching at his chin. Morgana ruffled his ears.

“Well, it’s less that it’s absorbing them and more like they’re combining into it. Y’know how the shadow in Mementos already look like amalgamations, right? It’s like that on a larger scale. More and more people are just thinking in a herd, and it’s combining into that one we found.” 

“So if we defeated it, we might get a whole bunch of people to change at once?” Ann asked. Morgana tilted his head. 

“No idea… It’s only going to get stronger the longer we wait.” Morgana answered. Silence filled the room.

“Well, Yusuke can’t really go into Mementos like this.” Futaba said, hugging him from behind.

“We can’t wait too long though.” Morgana replied. “I guess we can have a break today, but…”  
“No no, I don’t want to hold everyone up.” Yusuke said, “No reason to-”

“Shhhhh… it’ll be fine Inari…”

“But-”

“Shhhhhh… rest…” Futaba said, tapping on Yusuke’s head. He blinked with each little tap, and sighed.

“Come on now, I can’t have you always coddling me.” Yusuke said. Everyone else laughed.

“Are you two dating or something?” Ryuji asked, and Futaba immediately went red. Yusuke spared her from answering.

“Not yet.” 

“_WHATKINDOFANSWERISNOTYET?”_ Futaba said, flicking the back of Yusuke’s head.

“Well, I think it means _not yet._” Ryuji said through laughter.

“Hey! Can you keep it down up there? I have regulars coming in soon.” Sojiro yelled from downstairs.

“Well, that’s as good a cue as any to take our break I suppose.” Makoto said with a smile on her face.

“Yeah, I suppose. Stay safe everyone.” Akira said. With that, everyone split off, each going their separate ways. Yusuke left last, and Akira went to change.

As Yusuke walked out two small hands grabbed his arm and dragged him around the side of Leblanc.

“Youstupiddumbidiothowcouldyou-” 

“What’s wrong Futaba?” 

“You! You can’t just say ‘not yet’ to something like that!”

“Oh, my apol-”

“Because uh-” Futaba began again before stopping herself. “Well, I was wondering if maybe, uh, we could like… Uh, follow me, I don’t know how I feel about saying this in an alley.”

“Alright.” 

Futaba turned around and led him into Sojiro’s house. She quickly slipped off her boots and crouched on the couch. Yusuke slipped off his own shoes and followed, sitting down next to her. They sat in silence, staring into each other’s eyes.

“So, what did you have to say?” Yusuke said, breaking the silence. Futaba looked down at the floor.

“Well, I still don’t know if I actually want to.”

“Why not?”

“Just… not sure, that’s all. It’s been kind of a rush these last few days, y’know?”

“Not for me.” Yusuke said. Futaba looked up at him again.

“I’m pretty sure that’s just because you’re always out of it.”

“That’s not true.”

“Mmm. Yeah.” Futaba said. She was trying to be calm, but Yusuke could tell she was breathing very rapidly.

“You wound me.”

“I’m sorry, Yusuke. I just… Well…” Futaba said, her face rapidly turning red again. Yusuke felt that same warm feeling rise in his gut again.

“I… well… I just…” she stuttered out again. She stopped, and took a deep breath.

“I love you! Okay?” she spurted out, then closed her eyes and covered her mouth.

“Well, what a coincidence.” 

“Hmmm?” Futaba grunted from her hands, eyes still closed.

“I love you too.”

“Ok… phew…” Futaba said, before plopping sideways onto the couch. “I said it…” Yusuke leaned forward and looked at her. “You… are serious, right Yusuke?” 

“Why wouldn’t I?” 

“Mmmm. Dunno. I just… I just worried about it a lot, y’know?”

“Hmmm. I’d think it’s better if you don’t have to be worried.”

“Y’know, I didn’t expect you to be this sappy,” Futaba said, sitting up and opening her eyes, “But… I guess I like it.”

“I’m just saying what I feel, that’s all.” Yusuke said. Futaba blushed again. 

“Give me a hug you dork.” Futaba said leaning in and wrapping her arms around him. Yusuke smiled, and returned the hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay everyone, I'd been busy with work and school (Even over Thanksgiving) and I'm happy to FINALLY have another bit out. Have I decided if this is fluff or not yet? Nope. Will I ever? Probably not. Oh well.


	5. Chapter 5

Futaba leaned into Yusuke. Like always, she was warm to the touch. He smiled. 

“Does this make it official then?”

“Maybe.”

“Saying not yet was accurate then.” Yusuke said. Futaba lightly elbowed him in the thigh.

“Could have been at least a  _ little  _ subtle.”

“What’s the point of being subtle about things that matter to you?” Yusuke said. Futaba giggled, and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“I didn’t think you’d be so sappy like this.” Futaba said, looking up at him with a giant grin on her face.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Nah, I’m perfectly fine with it.”

“Just fine?”

“Hmmmm… maybe.” Futaba said with a wink. She stuck her tongue out at him, and he gave a small chuckle. “I’m uh… glad I didn’t have anything to worry about.” she said, closing her eyes. 

_ “Me too.” _ Yusuke thought to himself, and they were both silent. They didn’t need to say anything else, they just wanted to enjoy being in each other’s arms.

It was all they needed.

“We should have a romantic kiss.” Futaba said, breaking the silence.

“I don’t know how.” Yusuke said, puzzling over it.

“Me neither, so let’s find out!” Futaba said, hopping off of the couch.

“This is sudd-” he began, before Futaba jumped back onto the couch and gave him a long kiss, pulling his head towards her. 

He felt like his heart had skipped a beat. He closed his eyes, and enjoyed the moment. Then, just as suddenly, she pulled back, her cheeks flushed and a poorly hidden grin on her face.

“I... think it’s something like that.” she said.

“You’ll have to better show me how to do it.” he replied.

She obliged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter, but I hope it was a short but sweet one.


	6. Chapter 6

Yusuke flopped onto Futaba’s bed. It was too small for him, of course, but Futaba was already sitting in her chair. Being in her house again, Yusuke was reminded of last night.

Becoming “official.”

Warm hugging.

A  _ lot _ of ameteur kisses.

It brought a smile to his face. 

They’d made quite good progress into shido’s palace, all things considered. He’d spent nearly the whole time near Futaba or protecting his other friends, and that was good enough for him. She spun around in the chair to look at him, and grinned. She hopped out of the chair and next to Yusuke on the bed, scooting in close to him. He could feel her warm breath on his chest, her eyes closed a smile still on her face. 

“I’m happy we didn’t like, wait or anything.” Futaba said, breaking the silence. She wrapped Yusuke in a hug.

“Me too.” he said, returning her embrace. He smelled something new in her hair, something minty. 

“I wasn’t lying when I said I was anxious, y’know,” Futaba said, “I… I’m just happy. It’s not like I exactly got a lot of dating experience.”

“Not even from an odd stranger or two online?”   


“Nah, they’d all think I was a dude. Besides, the one guy who tried I just didn’t respond to.”

“Rather not have to explain?”

“Well, that and I am a  _ professional _ ” she said with an exaggerated voice. They both laughed.

“Well, I guess people watching does help sometimes.” Yusuke said.

“Oh no it didn’t, you’re just naturally a sweet person.” Futaba said. She nuzzled him a little bit, and he blushed.

“Please, I’m nothing special.” 

“Oh can it,” Futaba said, lightly slapping his side, “I don’t wanna hear that from you of all people.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Yusuke said with a short laugh.

“You know what it means.”

“Do I?”

“Yeah, even if you don’t wanna accept it.”

“I guess I have no choice then.”

“Good, now relax.” She said, moving up to give him a kiss.

As if on command, Yusuke felt his eyelids begin to shut and his thoughts begin to slow. Futaba was still pressing herself into his chest. He allowed himself to be slowly brought to sleep, and his consciousness to fade into a fuzzy warmth.

However, it had not felt to him like little more than a few minutes before they heard a man’s hearty laugh. The duo both shot up to see Sojiro standing in the doorway, looking in at them. 

“Well, I’ll be.” he said simply. Futaba quickly fixed her glasses onto her head, looking panicked to say something. 

“Greetings, Boss.” Yusuke answered for her, masking his moment’s panic beneath a calm demeanor.

“Oh don’t pull the fake calmness on me, I already saw your face when you first woke up.”

“It’s not what it looks like Sojiro I-” Futaba began to sputter before Sojiro waved his hand and laughed again.

“I know exactly what it was.” he replied, a smug grin slowly spreading across his face.

“Nonono Sojiro we weren’t doing  _ that _ w-we were just cuddling and then we both just fell asleep.” Futaba sputtered out.

“I know, I know.” Sojiro said. The couple both sighed simultaneously. “Don’t get too comfy though, it is getting late after all.” he continued.

“Oh, I should return to my dorm then. Thank you.” Yusuke said, sliding out of Futaba’s bed. Sojiro closed the door as Yusuke exited.

“Hold on now, slow down.” Sojiro said, leaning against the wall.

“Yes?”

“I want to talk to you about…” Sojiro began, before pausing for a moment, “about  _ this. _ Futaba is my daughter, after all.”

“That’s fine by me, I would have to explain it eventually. I just wish it’d-”

“Been under better circumstances?” Sojiro said with a chuckle, “Me too, but that’s fine. You don’t have that much longer to catch a train back, so I won’t hold you up tonight, but we  _ will _ have a talk, understand?”

“Absolutely.”

“Good. You don’t need to lock the door behind you, I’ll be heading back out soon.” Sojiro finished. He turned and entered into what Yusuke assumed was his room. He took his cue to leave, and he stepped into the winter night. He caught a train back to his dorm, and after he stepped inside he quickly closed and locked the door behind him. Yusuke pulled the cover off of the portrait he had been creating, and he looked it over with a fresh set of eyes. It was good, but there were small things he could fix before it would be finished. He smiled, and covered it again. Moving it out of the way, he took a new canvas, and began to paint a vision of Shido’s palace until his phone vibrated on his bed. He had an idea of who it might be. He smiled and set his supplies down, picking up his phone to see a text from Futaba.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to have that happen, but I fell asleep too.”

“that’s fine,” he replied, “i was asleep quickly myself.” Yusuke said. There was a small delay. “there’s nothing to apologize for Futaba.”

“I mean, I don’t think Sojiro will be mad at you per say, but he probably isn’t pleased.”

“i’ll have to try and convince him then.” Yusuke said. 

“Well, yeah… You need to sleep soon though, like it or not you still have school.”

“well, you are right. i love you Futaba, good night.”

“Hehehe, good night Yusuke.” Futaba finished. Yusuke, smiled, and set down his phone to charge for the rest of the night. He cleaned up his art, then quickly prepared himself for sleep.

It may not have been as nice without Futaba, but it’d manage until he could do so again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay again, I was burnt out after finals and multiple before break assignments, but i'm back! Hopefully I can keep a consistent schedule this time-


End file.
